I get home, how to impress my guests?
You have decided to organize a family lunch on the occasion of Easter and to put your culinary talents to work to receive your loved ones? Make the most of your paschal meal by choosing the right gestures and concocting with our help a festive and tasty menu that will satisfy even the most demanding palates.
Organization, first challenge
Before you go in the bath, it is important to carry out a preliminary check-list which will allow you to avoid the oversights and small worries that could jeopardize all your efforts: an early organization will be your best ally.
If your meal is frozen, let them defrost at room temperature. You can also prepare your dessert the day before to get ahead. Moreover, it is important to follow to the letter the recipes that you will propose: the time is not for experimentation! Respect the cooking times of meat, whether poultry, doe or wild boar. A hob will be welcome, because it will allow you to monitor the smooth running of your dishes.
Always taste all your preparations. Reporting to you just a few minutes before the guests arrive that the result is not up to your expectations would put you in a very uncomfortable situation. Another vector of anxiety: note that we did not plan enough for all the guests. See so wide.
Be an involved and exemplary host
The first landing of the reception is of course the table decoration, a step that includes the placement of guests. In this regard, take into account the affinities of each one.
In addition to the cheerful conversations that usually animate family meals, activities are never too much when it comes to receiving. Get out of the everlasting card games or society and try an introduction to the musical blind test to kindly compete generations. And why not make the aperitif fun, by launching bets on the composition of your appetizers or the flavors that make up your cocktail?
Offer an extraordinary menu
To accompany the reunion, a meal specially designed for the occasion will certainly be perfect. Find out if your guests have allergies or special dietary habits before designing your menu.
As a starter, a foie gras press will do the job very well. Served with rhubarb confit and sprinkled with a sweet white wine, it will impress. The highlight of your meal is of course the dish. You can opt for a pastry leg (see our recipe page 80), the meat that best suits the event. Prepared in the oven or casserole, it will have something to impress the taste buds of your guests. To draw also in our selection: rabbit with mustard, risotto of fish and shellfish or eggs in all their forms, Easter requires.
As for dessert, you can choose a sherbet, a frozen nougat or a vacherin, adapted to the sweetness that prevails in early spring. Among the must-haves, the Easter nest will satisfy even the most greedy.